What did you eat last night for dinner?

Originally Posted by Roikins

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How about that flower pot smoker that Alton Brown made? You can probably use the 50 cents you have to buy what parts you can't steal from lawns and parks.

Sure, but then what am I gonna do? I don't know of anywhere that sells foie by the slice in Chicago. Maybo Fox & Obel but I avoid that place like the plague. Plus I will have spent my final $.50 on the damn pot!

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Sure, but then what am I gonna do? I don't know of anywhere that sells foie by the slice in Chicago. Maybo Fox & Obel but I avoid that place like the plague. Plus I will have spent my final $.50 on the damn pot!

Slice? *****, I'll send you a lobe to experiment with if you get the smoker running.

Originally Posted by Roikins

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Slice? *****, I'll send you a lobe to experiment with if you get the smoker running.
Let's just wait until I can afford to fly out there and then we will experiment with foie in ways that will make Michael Ginor wet his pants.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Let's just wait until I can afford to fly out there and then we will experiment with foie in ways that will make Michael Ginor wet his pants.

By the time that happens, it'll be 2012 and foie will be banned.

Originally Posted by Roikins

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By the time that happens, it'll be 2012 and foie will be banned.

Well then you can come to Chicago and I'll supply the foie. We already went through our banishment and un-banishment of foie. Doubtful we'll go through it again, unless guys like our Watermelon Cake Chef here get their way. BTW Thanks for believing that I wont' have a couple hundred spare bucks for two years!

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Well then you can come to Chicago and I'll supply the foie. We already went through our banishment and un-banishment of foie. Doubtful we'll go through it again, unless guys like our Watermelon Cake Chef here get their way.


BTW Thanks for believing that I wont' have a couple hundred spare bucks for two years!

That's because I know you blow all your spare money on Hentai and neuticles.

KWilk - pls poast Alinea dinner review.

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

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I believe this is why Jersey tomatoes taste so much better in NJ than Rutgers tomatoes elsewhere.... and I know Greg thinks they are meh, but you're wrong dude.

I get my tomatoes flown weekly from Sicily via fedex.

^Fo realz?

Originally Posted by gomestar

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KWilk - pls poast Alinea dinner review.
I am waiting for our esteemed Young Master Matthew to post first. But I will definitely poast an independent review afterward, in which I try to do more than just +1 everything he says.

well tell him to get on it then!

Originally Posted by gdl203

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I get my tomatoes flown weekly from Sicily via fedex.
Watch out.. if you reduce or cancel your order, they may send the leg-breakers

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

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Watch out.. if you reduce or cancel your order, they may send the leg-breakers

Where is YOUR review from Saturday night?

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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^Fo realz? I am waiting for our esteemed Young Master Matthew to post first. But I will definitely poast an independent review afterward, in which I try to do more than just +1 everything he says.
A'ight. I just got home and I found my menu crumpled up in my bag. Overall, I thought it was super interesting, and I was really glad I went. I am not sure that I can rate it as food, because it doesn't resemble food as I know it. Still, I was pretty wowed. Course by course:

1-3: Edible cocktails - I am the wrong audience for this. I thought the pisco sour was awful. It had the worst texture ever. Manhattans just don't work for me. The gin and cucumber were fine, even good, but I just don't get off on "mixology."

4: English peas - This might have been great if we got a lot less. I started out loving it, but got tired. It was a kind of sand/snow of peas with different Spanish flavors. 1/3 of the peas with all of the other flavors would have been nice. At this point I was a little but trying to hide it.

5-7: A bunch of Asian-y stuff - The shrimp with black beans and cinnamon aroma was absolutely epic. One of the best things I've ever tasted. Texture was slightly wonky, but still great. The yuba, which is apparently very famous, was only so-so to me. Not bad, just not great. The sugar cane was awesome, but unfortunately the other philistines at the table did not realize that.

8: Tomato - I would have preferred a tomato with out all of the dust. Disappointing.

9: Distillation of Thai Flavors - Really tasty. Probably slightly too salty, but freaking awesome nonetheless. It was the only dish that was off as far as seasoning.

10: Pork belly - Good. I liked it less than everybody else, but what do I know. It was a little to gluey in texture for me.

11-13: King crab - Wow. Three ways, each better than the way before. Just great. The warm dish was the only truly savory dish of the night, which is my main complaint about Alinea, but I'll get to that later.

14: Hot potato cold potato - I must be an idiot because I thought this was disappointing. A little gimmicky. Everybody else loved it. It was certainly good, though.

15: Lamb - I didn't think this was very good, and I hated the plate they used. All the dips and bumps made it hard to eat.

16: Black truffle explosion - Yippee. This was great. Very simple, but when Kyle told me of the backstory on it, I could totally understand how he developed the dish.

17: Tournedo a la Persane - Very nice. I liked the way they worked this course in. It was delicious.

18: Bacon - Really should have been called liquid smoke. Not very good.

19: Lemon soda - One bite, nuff said.

20: Transparency of raspberry yogurt - don't even remember this.

21: Bubble gum - Hey mom I sucked my first dick. This was weird, but very good.

22: Earl Gray - Can't really tell as I don't like Earl Gray.

23: The crazy tabled dessert - I like this and everybody else hated it, but I am a big mint fan.

Overall it was great. With this kind of food not everything will be pleasing to everybody. My only complaint was that there were not many things which got your tastebuds going and the saliva flowing in your mouth. It was more cerebral than emotional, but I loved it. I wouldn't go back tomorrow, even if somebody else paid, but I could see flying out in six months just to check out the new tricks.

Had a great time with Kyle, Ron and my poor wife. It was interesting that what I liked some (wrong) people disliked, and vice versa. Definitely a place to go.

Matt and I are, for the most part, on the same page. 1-3--- Edible cocktails, I also really hated the Pisco sour. Texture was awful, basically an egg white gelatin put on the antigriddle. Cucumber and gin one was pretty nice, but nothing incredible. I didn't like the Manhattan all that well either. The latter two were interesting, but not necessarily good. 4--- Pea course-- Matt is right on here. Far too many "peas" (pea puree that was set in liquid nitro) and not enough of the accompaniment. Plus the fact that the peas were SO cold made it hard to eat. Still, when you DID get a bite that had all of the components, the flavors were quite good together. At this point, as we were all talking about the dinner so far, I thought Matt was going to disown me. Luckily, things started looking up. 5-7--- Three preparations of shrimp. Shrimp & black bean tempura on a cinnamon stick. Very good flavor, and just the right amount of cinnamon, but the texture was unappealing to me. Everybody else loved this, though. My favorite of the three was the Yuba, shrimp, miso, and togarashi. I absolutely love togarashi (unless it is a ****** blend), and this course was good. Crispy, interesting, fun. Lastly was the small piece of sugar cane which was heavily flavored with shrimp. Shrimp flavor was incredible, and I don't mind sugar cane in general, but something about the texture here was less than perfect as well. 8--- Tomato dish, overall not as good as it should have been. Way too many different powders (nut, mozzarella, olive oil, balsamic, basil, etc etc). It was just too complicated for something that is so perfect when done simply. However, the tomatoes were good and ripe, and the fried mozzarella cubes were great. 9--- Distillation of Thai Flavors- Very good. Matt said it was too salty, but what does he know. Questionable palate. Flavors came through very well. 10-- Pork belly. Very good. They use the table centerpiece of rice paper w/ herbs in it and then bring a plate with pork belly and coconut milk, then on your plate are several garnishes found in Thai food. I thought the course was great, and Ron's tongue-in-cheek comment about paying $185 to plate your own food was funny too. 11 through 13--- probably my favorite of the night. A great course, and what I think Alinea really does well. They bring you out a large porcelain service piece that is in the general shape of an apple. On the top, there is a presentation of cold king crab, chervil gelee, rhubarb pudding, and buttermilk-lime sorbet. It was topped w/ plums IIRC. This was quite good, but the buttermilk sorbet was a little too strong to match w/ the crab perfectly. Then, once you are finished, they remove the top of the service piece and reveal the next course, which is a warm crab salad with fried avocado, compressed rhubarb and fennel, and mung bean sprouts. This was just awesome, and at that point, probably the best course of the night. They took away the middle servicepiece and revealed on the bottom a crab, rhubarb, and cippolini onion glacage with fennel. Absolutely great, and so so so savory. 14-- hot potato cold potato, one of Grant's most famous dishes. I think Matt was expecting too much out of it, or expecting it to be absolutely revolutionary from the way I told him "you're going to LOVE the next course." Really, it is just a vichysoisse with black truffle. The flavor is not the part that is supposed to stand out, it is the contrast of having both hot and cold sensations in your mouth as you pull the pin and shoot the course back all at once. I personally am a big fan of the dish and could have a bowl of it. 15-- Lamb-- supposed to be an expression of Elysian Fields Farms, both the product and the terroir of the farm itself. Meh. Pretty major fail on this course. The only thing good on the plate was the small piece of lamb skewered on the rosemary. The rest was forgettable. 16--- BTE, probably Achatz' most famous dish and one of my favorites. Basically, it is a truffle stock, lightly gelled, placed inside a raviolo, served with a tiny piece of braised romaine and parmesan. You bite down, and the raviolo explode and sends warm truffle juice to coat your entire mouth. A great ******* course. 17-- Tournedo a la persane --- I liked the wagyu on this course very well. It was a good course, overall, and personally I really like the juxtaposition of putting a course straight from Escoffier (minus the sous vide part) in the middle of a 20 course meal. And Matt's wife commented on how they re-set the table with antique glassware and whatnot, which is a cool little element to the course. 18-- Bacon. Another very famous course, but IMO it is probably more famous for the service piece it is served on than its flavor. I have had this course several times and it has yet to really move me. Like Matt said, it tasted like liquid smoke, the smoke was so strong. 19--- Lemon soda. Okay. One tiny bite, reconstitutes and carbonates a bit on your tongue. Whatever. 20--- Transparency of raspberry yogurt--- taste was okay. Basically it was like a raspberry fruit rolup that was dehydrated. Anyone who has had a hydrocolloid "glass" knows what I mean. Taste was okay, but nothing incredibly special. 21-- Bubble gum. Matt was spot on. Like sucking a dick. And what do you know, I was the first at the table to gulp it down But the flavors were good, and we all got a good laugh (in the incredibly silent and stiff dining room) about how ridiculous we looked and felt sucking on our glass cocks. 22--- Earl Grey-- the tea cookies were incredible. The caramelized white chocolate was great. The rest, meh. 23--- the dessert mat dessert. They unset your table, put a silicon mat on the table, and then Grant Achatz (and in our case since we were at a larger table, CDC Matt Chasseur) came out and plated it on your table. Very cool, and the ******* SQUARES that their liquid coconut sauce turned into was incredible. The flavors were okay, I like mint as well, but found the menthol to be overpowering. The chocolate parts were good and the coconut parts were good too. Plus it was cool to see how intense Achatz was while plating. Not my first time at Alinea, and hopefully not my last. And thankfully I didn't run into the guy who interviewed me and rejected me a week earlier, b/c that would have been awkward. I thought the meal was great and I had a blast with Matt, his wife, and Ron. Oh, and one has to mention that the service there is top notch. Some of the best I have ever had.

noice ^ the pork belly and BTE sounds fap-worthy.

and how's the ranch dressing, btw?